At midnight on March 1st, 2022, Alberta will end restrictions around limits on social gatherings, capacity limits for large venues, remaining school requirements, screening of youth for activities, the mandatory work-from-home order and public masking requirements except in high-risk settings.
Premier Jason Kenney announced the moved in Grande Prairie at the grande opening of the new Grande Prairie Regional Hospital.
Kenney said that due to the declining case numbers gives hope that the province is moving on from COVID-19, “Over the last three weeks, cases and hospitalizations have continued to drop as we have started lifting restrictions. This promising trend puts Alberta in a position to safely remove the majority of remaining public health measures.
"This is a good day for Albertans as we get another step closer to getting back to normal," he added.
Effective March 1 the following restrictions will be lifted:
Remaining provincial school requirements (including cohorting) will be removed.
Screening prior to youth activities will no longer be required.
Capacity limits will be lifted for all venues.
Limits on social gatherings will be removed.
The provincial mask mandate will be lifted in most settings. However, masking will still be required in high-risk settings, including on public transit, at Alberta Health Services-operated and contracted facilities and all continuing care settings.
Restrictions on interactive activities, liquor service and operating hours will be lifted
Mandatory work-from-home requirements will be removed.
Continuing care and acute care in Alberta will still have restrictions in place, and Mandatory isolation for postive cases will be still required under step two. Under step two, masking requirements in high-risk settings will continue, including at AHS facilities, continuing care centres and on public transit
Alberta Health Minsiter Jason Copping said that the stress on Alberta's health care has been easing and is a positive sign for moving to step 2, “I am pleased to see that the stress on our health-care system continues to lessen. Not only does this allow us to ease more public health measures, it also reduces the pressure and strain on our dedicated health-care workers who have worked tirelessly through the pandemic to provide expert care to Albertans.”